Looking for a Repeat

The birthplace of the Olympics, Athens, marked a rebirth for Egyptian Olympians. It was there in 2004 that Egyptian athletes won five medals — one gold, one silver and three bronze. These were the first Olympic medals for Egypt in 20 years, and the most in one Olympics since the 1948 London Games. Perhaps lost in the national jubilation was another piece of sports history: It was the first time that Egypt had ever medaled in Taekwondo. Tamer Bayoumi’s bronze in Athens put Egypt on the map of this Korean martial art, which became an Olympic medal sport in 2000. Now, Bayoumi and three other Taekwondo teammates are headed to London with their sights set on gold. “We have been waiting for this day for such a long time, and we have been practicing for four years so that we would qualify for the Olympics,” says Mahmoud Shalaby, head coach of the national Taekwondo team and a former Taekwondo world champion. In Taekwondo, the athletes use their hands and feet to overcome their opponents. Points are awarded based on successful kicks and punches, as registered on electronic body pads, with high or complex kicks earning the most points. Egypt’s 2012 Olympic Taekwondo team heads to London with impressive credentials and promise of future success. Now 30 years old, Bayoumi is the team veteran, competing in the under-58 kilogram class. In addition to his 2004 Olympic bronze, he has a bronze medal from the 2007 World Taekwondo Championships. Bayoumi is also a three-time Arab and African Taekwondo champion for his weight class. His three teammates are first-time Olympians at the 2012 World University Taekwondo Championship, held in Korea this past May. Hedaya Malak, 19, competes in the under-57 kg women’s division. She won a gold medal at the recent University Taekwondo Championship. Seham El Sawalhy, 21, competes in the under 67-kg women’s division and was a silver medalist in the May tournament. AbdelRahman Osama, 23, competes in the under-80 kg men’s division. He took bronze in the university championships. The Taekwondo team trains at the Olympic Center in Maadi twice a day for two to three hours each session, working on technical skills and general fitness. While Egyptians impress the sport’s judges internationally, Shalaby says Taekwondo is largely overlooked at home. “We have been searching for sponsors since [2008] to be able to train in good camps abroad, but no one funded us and so we did our best with the resources we had,” he says. It wasn’t until January 2012, when Egypt qualified for four places in the Olympics, that the National Olympics Committee started supporting them, “as they know that at least one of these kids will get a medal,” Shalaby says. “I guess this is the nature of sport in Egypt: Unless you are recognized on the international level, no one here will give you the support you deserve and need. Except for football of course.” None of that will matter when these athletes step onto the mat for their Olympic bouts. “I feel very proud when I watch all of them in competition and in training. They always do their best and fight until their last breath with honor and grace,” Shalaby says. “I have faith in these kids and I know that we will win as we have really worked hard and done our best to be able to go. We have been pushing ourselves to be better and excel more, so this is like a dream come true for all of us.”